


Some Kind of Heaven

by JuliaBaggins



Series: Something Real [7]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Football | Soccer, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, champions league final
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-06-04 13:12:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6659431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaBaggins/pseuds/JuliaBaggins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur is a famous football player who just had his coming out, Merlin is his boyfriend and after some trouble, they're going to get a happy end...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story belongs to a series, so I guess you should read the prior parts before that one ;)

Merlin yawned. He tried to focus on the textbook in front of him, to memorize what was written there about the cardiac system, but the lines kept getting blurry, washing into each other, and his brain was unable to take in a single word of the text. A look at the clock which was hanging at the opposite wall – 2:39 AM. No surprise he was tired.

Arthur was away as today (no, Merlin corrected his own thoughts, by now it was yesterday) his team had played the Champions League quarter final first leg. It had been a though away game which ended 1:1, and of course Merlin had not only watched the match itself but also the interviews afterwards. When Arthur came on screen, a smile started spreading on his face, though he didn’t like the way Arthur’s brows were furrowed. After he had told the journalist (that was a bit too attractive, and standing a bit too close to Arthur, if you’d ask Merlin) that everything was still open for the second leg, Merlin had written him a quick text and then set his books for university up. 

The adrenaline from the turbulent game’s last minutes washed off slowly, but finally Merlin was able to memorize some of the stuff he’d need for his exam next week. But just when he thought he would have finally found his learning rhythm, he started getting this awfully tired. Going to bed wasn’t an option, because he still needed to work through at least three more chapters – and, if he was honest with himself, also because he hated sleeping without Arthur by his side. So instead he made himself a big mug of coffee and texted Arthur good night, as even if he wouldn’t get to sleep, Arthur surely would. It was around 3AM when Merlin’s phone rang. He picked the call without even looking at the caller’s name.

 

“Hmm?”

“Merlin? Is everything alright?”

That was Arthur. Huh. So he wasn’t sleeping at all.

“Yeah, everything is…” Another yawn escaped Merlin’s lips. “…fine. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Oh, _I_ was asleep, and eventually I’ll go back to sleep in a few minutes. Wish I could say the same about _you._ ”

Merlin mumbled something about university and exams and learning but Arthur cut him off.

“Darling, it won’t help you with your exams or especially with your lectures tomorrow if you work till you pass out! So you’ll go to bed, now. Okay? _No,_ not one more chapter. Your bloody books will still be there tomorrow, right? Now go to bed. Promise me you will.”

“Hmm, ‘f course.”

Merlin had already started walking towards the bedroom as he knew how he was unable to resist Arthur’s wishes.

“So, I’m in bed. You happy now?”

“Wasn’t that hard, was it? Sleep well my dear, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Oh, and Arthur?”

“Yes?”

“I miss you.”

In a hotel room somewhere far away, Arthur felt a painful twist in his chest. Being away from Merlin was always hard for him, especially at night, and most of the time he was thankful that his matches left him too exhausted to even dream. But today had been different, and when he had awoken and seen that Merlin had just texted him, a message wishing him a good night that contained way more typos than it was typical for Merlin, he had called. Of course Arthur had been concerned, as he knew that Merlin was pushing himself too hard with his studies sometimes, but at the same time it had been a selfish thing to do. Because Merlin’s voice always helped him to calm after a nightmare, even if it sounded as tired as today. Well, it had helped, until Merlin had told him that he missed him, sounding so sad that it could have broken Arthur’s heart.

“I miss you too. But we’ll see each other soon. Love you.”

“Love you, night.”

Merlin put the phone away and quickly drifted into sleep, dreaming something crazy that contained an enormous lymph node. There while Arthur stepped out to the hotel room’s balcony and watched the city’s lights for a few moments before he went back to bed. He pressed the sweater that had been lying under his pillow close to him – he had sneaked it into his bag just before he had left with his team, and he doubted that Merlin had noticed, or that he would mind. And having the soft red sweater that still smelled like Merlin close to him certainly helped Arthur to get back to sleep…

 

It was nearly 14 hours later when Merlin walked out of one of the university buildings, the leather bag that contained most of his books hung loosely over his shoulder. The day hadn’t been as hard as he would have expected (which maybe could have something to do with the mass of coffee he had drunk during it), Arthur would come back today and tomorrow he even had a free day – that wasn’t sounding too bad. Actually, it sounded pretty amazing, and that was the reason that a smile started to spread on Merlin’s lips while he walked down the stairs of the university.

Arthur had parked his car on the opposite side of the road and watched how Merlin walked down the stairs, caught up in his thoughts, while he was leaning against his Porsche’s door. Merlin was woken from his thoughts when he suddenly heard Arthur’s name, whispered by a blond girl that was walking in front of him to her red-headed friend. They started giggling, the blonde pointed her finger towards the other side of the street and when Merlin followed her sign, he saw Arthur Pendragon himself, leaning against his car and smiling brightly in his direction. Merlin hurried his steps, passing the two girls and running across the street to throw himself into Arthur’s arms.

The two girls who had been walking in front of Merlin exchanged a knowing smile before they stopped at the end of the stairs to catch a look of how Arthur placed a tender kiss on Merlin’s lips before he held Merlin’s door open for him. One of them sighed.

 

After a night that Merlin and Arthur had spent tangled up with each other as usually, Arthur woke Merlin up with a kiss to his forehead and announced that he had a plan for today.

“What kind of plan?”, Merlin asked, voice still a bit sleepy.

“Of course that’s a surprise! But I guess you’ll like it. Now come on, we should go before the day’s over!”

Merlin rolled his eyes at that and got slowly out of their comfortable bed, of course not without a lot of very theatrical complaining. Arthur couldn’t hold back a laugh and Merlin smiled when he heard Arthur laughing, the sound of it being too precious to go unnoticed.

They got into Arthur’s car, listening to light songs on the radio and Merlin wasn’t trying again to get Arthur to tell him what he had in mind, as he knew that his boyfriend could be really stubborn when it came to things he wanted to keep secret. However, Merlin couldn’t help noticing that they were leaving the city, driving southwards. When they had been driving for about an hour, Merlin thought he knew where Arthur was going as they had been following the street signs leading to Brighton for some time now. But just when Merlin wanted to make a comment about it, Arthur left the main road whose destiny was Brighton and instead changed to a smaller one.

Merlin watched the landscape in awe, an intense green as only spring could create it, sometimes even lighted by the sun which was fighting bravely to break through the clouds. They were right in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nothing but meadows and soft hills, when Arthur stopped the car. As soon as the engine was turned off, Merlin thought he could hear the sea somewhere in the distance.

 

“There we are!” 

Arthur smiled at Merlin and indicated him to get out of the car while he himself was busy with something in the luggage space. Merlin walked around the car curiously and witnessed how Arthur lifted a basket out of it.

“Is that a picnic basket?”

“And what if it was?“ Arthur was smirking.

“Then I’d say that I love the idea of a picnic out in the nature.”

“Oh, and maybe I’d say that I love to make you happy. Or I’d just do this.”

And Arthur pulled Merlin in his arms, kissing him in such an enthusiastic way that Merlin felt like he had been lifted from the ground.

They found a nice spot under an old tree on one of the small hills from where they had a lovely view above the surrounding landscape and could even see some dark blue waves near the horizon. Arthur was laying out a blanket he had brought while Merlin had a look into the picnic basket. He lifted a bottle of wine with a label that was written in French.

“What kind of wine is this?”

To Merlin’s surprise, he saw a slight blush on Arthur’s cheeks.

“Well”, Arthur got down to sit next to Merlin and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, “you remember the day we met, do you?”

Merlin couldn’t help but laugh at that – if there was one day in his life that he’d probably never forget, it was the one when he had met Arthur Pendragon.

“It may surprise you but yes, I actually remember it quite well!”

That earned him a ruffle to his hair before Arthur started speaking again.

“So I guess you also remember why you started talking to me at all?”

“I told you that you were being really unfair to a stewardess.”

“Yes. And you were right, I was. But the thing is… You know, I got angry at her because the airline wasn’t offering the wine I would have liked to drink. And sometimes I think – what if I hadn’t ordered that _particular_ wine, just another brand or a coke or whatever, and you hadn’t started talking at me. If we would have just spent that flight sitting there and never seeing each other again. So, you know, I guess both of us owe this wine something.”

 

Merlin was silent for a moment. When Arthur had been talking about the possibility of them never seeing each other after their flight to San Francisco his voice had been filled with such a lot of emotion, even with a hint of fear, that Merlin couldn’t help but fall in love with the man next to him even more than he already was. 

Arthur seemed to feel the need to fill the silence between them with more words.

“And I know it was not just the wine, there were also these turbulences, but what if the weather had been fine on that day, what if one of us…”

_"Arthur”_ , Merlin carefully placed a finger on Arthur’s lips, “Do you believe in fate? Because I don’t think that it was just a concatenation of fortunate circumstances that we ended up sitting next to each other that day, and that we started talking and everything.”

Arthur kissed the tip of Merlin’s finger that was still placed on his lips and looked him deep in the eyes.

“I honestly don’t know if I believe in fate. But during the last few months, I started to believe in something else.”

“And what would that be?”

Arthur swallowed, a tear sparkling in his eye when he whispered his answer.

“I believe in soulmates.”

And the look in Merlin’s eyes when he carefully wiped the tear away from Arthur’s cheek, the slight trembling of his thumb, the way he kissed him right afterwards, all of this told Arthur that he wasn’t the only one there who believed to have found their soulmate…

 

They got back to their apartment late in the evening after their trip, holding each other’s hands while they walked up to their flat, and in the next morning, it was Merlin who got up first. He glanced at the clock, 7:06 AM, and decided to make some breakfast before Arthur would have to leave for his training. As his lectures today started in the afternoon, they would only have the morning and maybe an hour around lunch together, so Merlin decided to make the best out of it.

Merlin and Arthur were happily chatting during breakfast, about yesterday, about football, how unusual it was for London that it hadn’t rained for three days in a row. Arthur gathered his training clothes together in a hurry as he was already a bit late, losing his sense for time during their breakfast and in the way that Merlin sometimes unconsciously ruffled his own hair. After a quick kiss to Merlin’s lips, Arthur left the house at 8:11AM and while he went through the door, he shouted an “I love you!” up the stairs.

Arthur drove to their training center maybe a bit faster than it was recommended, but he just made it in time, and when he got out of his car, he didn’t notice how his phone fell out of his jacket’s pocket onto the driver’s seat. He realized that it was missing when he got out of his clothes, but as there was no time for searching at the moment he just made a mental note to himself to go looking for it later. 

The training went really well, their whole team was in a great state and Arthur had a good feeling when he thought of the upcoming semifinal. Arthur left the training center at 1:07 PM, a smile on his face, and waved Lance Goodbye before he went to his car. _Maybe he had left his phone in there?_

 

When he finally found his phone next to his seat, he saw that he had six text messages as well as two missed calls. The texts were from Merlin, so of course he read them first.

> _Love you too, you idiot._ – sent 8:12 AM
> 
> _What would you like to eat for lunch?_ – sent 8:16 AM
> 
> _Ah, sure you can’t answer during training. Guess you won’t mind a nice lasagna, right? ;)_ – sent 8:44 AM
> 
> _We’re out of tomatoes – did you eat all of them?!_ – sent 10:01 AM
> 
> _Don’t even try to deny it!_ – sent 10:02 AM
> 
> _I thought about not making anything for lunch, but well, then I thought of those puppy eyes you can do, so guess you’ll get some lasagna anyway. I’ll hurry to buy some new tomatoes – see you for lunch!_ – sent 10:17 AM  
> 

Arthur smiled at the thought of a Merlin who was still slightly angry about the tomatoes cooking lasagna for him and was ready to put his phone away when he remembered the two missed calls. Unknown number – probably some stupid hotline that wanted to sell stuff no one could ever need. He still called the number, just wanting to be sure.

 

“St. Thomas Hospital, how can we help you?”

“Hospital?” Arthur was confused now.

“Sir? Can you tell me why you are calling us?”

“Well, ehm, you were calling me…”

“Your name?”

“Pendragon, Arthur Pendragon.”

“Give me a moment, please.” 

Arthur waited, not sure why his heart was beating that fast.

“Mister Pendragon? I found an entry in the system. You were called as you are the emergency contact of a Mister Merlin Emrys, age 21. Is that right?”

“Yes.” Arthur’s voice was a whisper. “What happened to Merlin?”

“I fear he was involved in a car accident.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I already feel the need to apologize for the end so yeah, I'm sorry about that. But things will be alright, I promise! ;)
> 
> Nice comments always make my day! :)
> 
> Oh, and though it has nothing to do with this story, I just have to mention this: I'm going to see Hans Zimmer live in concert today and I'm already so freaking excited as this is a dream coming true! :D


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur gets to Merlin in the hospital. Lance is a great friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wanted to write this earlier but well, then I saw Civil War last week, and my thoughts couldn't really focus on something else for a few days... So finally, here we go ;D
> 
> Oh, and something really important: A huge THANK YOU to all of you lovely people who keep commenting on my stories. Your nice words are what keeps me writing! ♥

Lance got into his car after he had said Goodbye to his teammates and started to sing along to a song on the radio that he liked while he drove out of his parking spot. He just wondered if that cute girl he had seen in the coffee shop next to his house yesterday would be working today too when he noticed something rather unusual. Arthur’s car was still parked, which alone would have been enough to catch Lance’s attention as Arthur usually was the first one to be on his way home, or at least it had been that way ever since he had found someone to get home to. Sometimes, Lance would get a bit jealous of Arthur’s relationship with Merlin – it was not like he’d think that they didn’t deserve it, or that he would be jealous of one of them for being with the other, no. But just the concept of having found someone who makes you _that happy_ , with whom you fit together that well… Lance hoped to achieve that himself someday.

Today, the unusual didn’t stop with Arthur’s car being still there. Arthur sat behind the wheel, and from what Lance could see, he looked white as a wall, frozen. Something had happened and Lance immediately started to worry for his friend, so he cut of his car’s engine and parked right next to Arthur’s Porsche. He hurried to get out and knocked at the window at the driver’s side of the car. No reaction. So Lance opened the door and was shocked to see that Arthur looked even worse than he had been able to observe from the outside. His eyes were fixed on his phone that he held in his right hand, black display, knuckles white from gripping it so hard.

 

“Arthur?”, Lance asked carefully.

Again, Arthur showed no reaction of even being aware of Lance’s presence, so he shook his shoulder. And finally, Arthur looked up at Lance, eyes filled with fear and tears.

“Arthur? Oh my god, what happened? Please talk to me!”

“It’s Merlin.”

Saying his boyfriend’s name seemed to be enough to bring Arthur out of his frozen state, as he started to shake and nearly collapsed in his seat. Lance got down to his knees next to the car, his hand still on Arthur’s shoulder. He was scared to ask his next question, though he knew he had to.

“What happened to Merlin?”

Arthur was crying now, violent sobs shaking through his body, and Lance wasn’t able to understand full sentences. From the words he could hear, _“hospital”, “called”, “car accident”_ and severe mentions of _“please”_ and _“no”,_ he still could make sense of the situation. A shiver ran down his back but he quickly told himself that he needed to keep calm, that two of his friends needed him to.

Lance convinced Arthur with a few words to get out of his own car and join him to Lance’s. As soon as they were inside, Arthur still crying, Lance asked if Arthur knew which hospital Merlin had been brought to. He did, and so Lance started to drive like his life depended on it. Well, maybe it wasn’t his own life, but when he looked at the mess that was his friend in the passenger seat…

 

They made it to the hospital in about 20 minutes, which seemed like an eternity, Lance parked at the first free space he saw and both of them hurried to get out of the car. Arthur seemed to have got his focus back, he had stopped crying and seemed to be nothing but restless to get to Merlin as soon as possible. Lance also noticed that the fear hadn’t vanished from his friend’s blue eyes.

Lance asked the lady behind the reception desk about Merlin and they told them a station as well as a room number in a monotone voice, her eyes not once leaving her computer’s display. She had barely finished her sentence when Arthur was already rushing towards the elevators and Lance hurried to follow him, shouting a quick “Thank you!” over his shoulder towards the reception. They were the only persons in the elevator and while it oh so slowly made its way upwards, Arthur finally looked Lance in the eyes and started speaking.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?”

Arthur’s voice was a shaking mix of fear and hope, and Lance hated it that he could do nothing to properly calm him down. But he also didn’t want to lie to his friend.

“I don’t know. But of course I hope so, and, well, I…”

A light noise announced that they had reached the right floor and Lance was honestly glad for an excuse to stop talking.

 

Arthur and Lance quickly got out of the elevator and saw a nurse at the station’s other end.

“Sorry, Ma’am?”, Lance called while both of them hurried in her direction. The nurse turned around, a slightly annoyed expression on her face.

“Please don’t shout like that, we’re in a _hospital_ after all!”

“Okay, I’m really sorry about it, but…”

Arthur was growing impatient, even more than he had been before, and interrupted Lance by just asking for the direction of Merlin’s room number. A bewildered glance from the nurse was all of an answer he got at first.

“The visiting hour is over, so I guess you just have to come back tomorrow. If you would excuse me now, I have to…”

She fell silent when a man, his clothing suggesting him being a doctor, stepped out of one of the doors and started walking in their direction.

“Is there a problem here?”, the doctor asked, voice deep and calm. But suddenly, his eyes widened and when he continued talking, he sounded an octave higher.

“You’re _Arthur Pendragon_. And you’re Lan… _Oh my god_ , I can’t believe it, I’m such a huge fan! What can I do to help you?”

“Lead me to my boyfriend’s room, please.”, Arthur was whispering, and as soon as the doctor had heard Merlin’s name he gestured towards Arthur and Lance to follow him.

 

The door to Merlin’s room was just a few meters away, and after the doctor had opened it, Arthur carefully stepped inside, scared of what he was going to see. Merlin was lying in one of the two beds in the room; the other being empty. His face was pale, even compared to the white of the pillow his head rested on, there were some deep purple bruises at his right cheek and his right arm was bandaged. Merlin’s eyes were closed, and Arthur was by his side in a second. He knelt down next to the bed, carefully brushing a finger over Merlin’s left hand that was resting on top of the covers. He stared at his boyfriend’s face, lost himself in the beep-beep-beep of his heartbeat, when he suddenly felt a pressure to his shoulder.

Lance stood behind Arthur and pointed to a chair he was holding with his left hand. He had to help Arthur up, as his knees were shaking too much, and as soon as Arthur had sat down, he took Merlin’s hand in his. And he had no intention to ever let go.

“Can you tell us what happened?”, Lance asked the doctor. He nodded.

“He was hit by a car when he was crossing the street. As far as I’ve heard, the lady who called the ambulance said that the traffic light was red, so the car wasn’t allowed to drive at that moment. But anyway, it did, and thank god it seems like the driver noticed his mistake in the very last moment so he was able to slow down, even if it was just a bit. This difference of a few miles per hour is very likely to have saved Mister Emrys’ life. And even though the car had slowed down, this could have still been way more serious, so I guess he’s got a real guardian angel.”

 

Lance had listened carefully to what the doctor was saying while Arthur didn’t hear a word of it. He was busy tracing hearts into the skin of Merlin’s hand, over and over again.

“How bad is he hurt?”, was Lance’s next question.

“His whole right side is heavily bruised, his right arm is broken, and there are two broken as well as one cracked rip. We can be very thankful that his head wasn’t inflicted in a serious matter.”

Lance nodded and looked back at Arthur and Merlin, knowing that all of this could have been worse, but his heart still breaking for them. He heard that Arthur was speaking to Merlin in whispers and he tried very hard not to listen, as it would feel like he was violating their privacy.

After a look to his watch, the doctor suddenly excused himself, not without a promise to come back later. He had already reached the door when Arthur spoke to him, not casting his eyes away from Merlin.

“When will he wake up?”

“He was sedated for the surgery at his arm. And as this was done more than two hours ago, he should wake up within the next half hour.”

Arthur gratefully nodded his head and the doctor left. 

“Lance? Could you, could you maybe call Morgana, please?”

“Of course.”

He left the room after patting Arthur’s shoulder reassuringly, and Arthur was alone with Merlin.

 

“Merlin? Honey, I know you can hear me, and I need you to know that I love you, I love you so so so much, and please, you have to wake up, I need to see your eyes, to talk to you, please, I need to be sure that I won’t lose you…”

Arthur kept talking like that for a few minutes when suddenly, he noticed the lightest flicker of Merlin’s eyelids. He was at the edge of his seat in a second and fell silent when he saw how Merlin opened his eyes, blinked in confusion.

“Whe… Where am I?”

Merlin’s voice sounded hoarse and Arthur had never heard a sweeter sound, not in his whole life.

“Shh, everything is alright, you’re in a hospital, you'll be fine.”

“Arthur?”

Merlin sounded surprised and turned his head so he was able to look at Arthur. Something like a weak smile appeared on his lips when he saw his boyfriend right next to his bed. And Arthur, he stood up from his seat, leaning over Merlin to press a feather light kiss to his forehead while tears were streaming down his cheeks.

“Yes Merlin, I’m here. And I’ll never ever leave you.”

“Promised?”, Merlin asked with a small grin.

“Promised.”

 

And in that moment, when he looked down at Merlin’s face that was still the most beautiful one he had ever seen, even in its current abused state, Arthur made a decision. Or, better said, he became aware of a decision his heart had already made for him. He would be going to ask Merlin to marry him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're very welcome to say "Hi" at Tumblr: consulting-angel-in-bag-end :)
> 
> And if you could take the time to leave a comment you'd make me very happy! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morgana hears of Merlin's accident and is there for Arthur.

Morgana was just walking down the steps of the building her bureau was in when her phone started ringing. It wasn’t the song she had set as her ringtone for Gwen’s calls, neither the one for Arthur’s, so she was rather curious at whom might call her; just a small number of people had her private number. She quickly fished the phone out of her bag’s depths and saw the name on the display: _Lancelot._

Now, Morgana started to worry. She hadn’t seen her brother’s teammate since their joined Christmas dinner and though they got along quite well she couldn’t think of a reason why he should call her. At least of no reason that wasn’t involving something happening to Arthur.

 

“Lance?”, Morgana asked as soon as she answered the call, and she didn’t like the thing that her voice did while she said his name. It sounded nearly as if she was panicking.

“Morgana? Yes, hello, ehm…”, Lance was stuttering and Morgana could feel her heartbeat speed up even more than it already was.

“What. Happened?”

She could hear how Lance took a deep breath before he continued to talk.

“Arthur asked me to call you…” _(Morgana was something close to relieved for a split second, before she heard his next words)_ “It’s about Merlin. He was hit by a car, and he’s in the hospital now. And… it would be great if you could come here.”

_No._

Morgana did her best to put her business-self in charge, the one that couldn’t be bothered by even the toughest clients, when she asked for further information. But though her voice was calm, it wasn’t really working on the inside – all she could think about was a selfie of Arthur and Merlin somewhere in the green that her brother had sent her just yesterday; how she had smiled when she saw their happy faces. How all of this might be just... _gone_. How she was sure that her brother wouldn’t survive this. 

 

When Morgana parked her red Maserati in front of the hospital she already spotted Lance standing next to the entrance, waiting for her. She was by his side in a second and after a brief hug, they hurried through the hospital’s corridors in silence.

“It’s here”, Lance finally said, pointing to a blank white door.

Morgana hesitated.

“I guess it’s better if you go in alone, you know… I’ll be just down the floor.”

Lance tried a smile in Morgana’s direction and walked away while she nodded. Morgana carefully opened the door, preparing for the worst. 

 

“Morgana!”

Arthur had heard the door’s opening and he looked up at Morgana now, his face a patchwork of a bunch of emotions, ranking from fear above relief to concern, love and gratitude. Morgana saw this for only a second before something else was catching her attention, because Arthur’s face was not the only one looking at her. From the pillow, Merlin was smiling at her, his face a mess of bruises and bandages but a spark in his blue eyes, and he was so amazingly _alive_ and _awake_ that Morgana couldn’t believe it for a moment.

“Morgana?”, Merlin asked quietly, and it was his voice that finally convinced her legs to walk again so she was by his bed shortly after.

“Hey”, was all she could manage to say right now, combined with a watery smile. 

Oh so gently Morgana sat down at the edge of Merlin’s bed and looked at him, then at her brother who was holding Merlin’s hand between two of his own.

“I’m so glad that…” She couldn’t say it, couldn’t put what might have happened into words as it was so terrifying, even now, as she saw Merlin right in front of her. And it didn’t seem to be necessary, as she saw understanding on Arthur’s face as well as Merlin’s.

 

They sat like that for a few more minutes, Arthur in his chair holding Merlin’s hand and Morgana on the bed carefully stroking her fingers through Merlin’s curls; comfortable in silence and each other’s presence. 

Suddenly, a yawn escaped Merlin’s lips, and Arthur couldn’t be fast enough at telling him that he should sleep and how he needed his rest to properly heal and that he was sorry for keeping him awake. Merlin slightly rolled his eyes, only for Morgana to see, before he looked at the siblings with a smile and closed his eyes. It was not long after that when he drifted into sleep.

 

Morgana carefully got up from her spot at the bed and walked towards the little table that stood right next to the window. Arthur was following her and before she was able to sit down, he had wrapped her in his arms, finally allowing himself to break down. Morgana held her brother’s shaking form in a tight embrace while his trembling voice carried to her ear.

“God, Morgana, I was so scared…”

She started rubbing soft circles to his back.

“I know, but he’s alright now Arthur, he’s… here. Everything will be fine.”

Arthur nodded against Morgana’s shoulder and his next statement was so quiet that she had troubles understanding him.

“I don’t know what I would have done if he had been, if… I don’t think I would have been able to go on.”

Morgana held him even tighter while her thoughts drifted to Gwen for a moment; how she couldn’t imagine what it might have done to her if she would have been in Arthur’s position and Gwen in Merlin’s. She took a moment to thank god for the fact that both her love and her brother’s were safe.

After a moment of silence, Arthur pulled away and smiled in Morgana’s direction; an unsaid Thank you that none of them needed to hear out loud.

 

“I have to tell you something.”

Morgana shot Arthur a questioning look.

“We’re going to get married.”

 _“What?”_ It was difficult for Morgana to keep her voice low; not to wake Merlin with her excitement.

“Well, no, I mean I hope so.”

Morgana raised a questioning eyebrow.

“I’m going to propose to Merlin.”

“Oh dear _lord._ ” Morgana put a hand in front of her mouth to beware the sound she wanted to make from escaping her lips.

They were in each other’s arms again, and Morgana whispered an “I’m so happy for you” in Arthur’s ear.

“Well, he has to say Yes first…”

 _“Seriously?_ I always knew I was the smart one out of the two of us, but if you’ve got _any_ doubts _at all_ about Merlin’s answer then I fear I’ve always overestimated your intelligence. You can’t be stupid enough to think he’ll say anything but Yes.”

By now, Arthur was laughing and shaking his head at his sister. Her comments earned her a ruffle to her hair and finally, she was laughing with him. The day’s tension was leaving their bodies completely, having both of them exhausted and smiling when they sat down at the chairs next to the window.

 

“Arthur?”

“Yes?”

“How are you going to propose?”

“I haven’t thought about that in details yet, to be honest.”

A dangerous smile started spreading on Morgana’s features and Arthur was sure that she was already thinking of ways to help him planning the perfect proposal. Not that he would mind – only the best for his Merlin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Nice comments are super welcome! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry that it took me that long to update here; I had kind of a writer's block with this story... But now I've found my way back to it :)

“Do you need something else? Are you hungry? Do you have enough blankets?”

“Arthur, calm down, please. Everything is alright”, Merlin said with a smile.

Shortly after, Merlin padded the spot on the sofa next to him, looked up at Arthur with wide eyes. The football player sat down there, carefully putting his arm around Merlin’s smaller frame. Merlin smiled again and placed his head at Arthur’s shoulder.

 

“I’m glad to be back home”, Merlin whispered after some minutes of peaceful silence, when Arthur had just started to wonder if he had fallen asleep.

And oh, how glad Arthur was too. Merlin had been in the hospital for only a few days but they had felt like an eternity; Arthur hating it every time he had to leave him there in the white tristesse to go to training, every time he got back to an empty flat. One that somehow didn’t feel like _home_ without Merlin there. 

But now, everything was good again; Merlin was home, he was alive, he would be fine. Arthur snuggled even closer and then concentrated on listening to Merlin’s breathing, how it slowed down when he fell asleep with his head still at Arthur’s shoulder, how tiny snores escaped Merlin’s mouth. 

Careful, oh so careful not to touch Merlin’s bandaged ribs, Arthur picked him up and carried him to their bed, pulling blankets around the two of them. And when he felt Merlin’s warm body next to his own, Arthur slept the first nightmare-free sleep in days…

 

“You’re going to do great”, Merlin told Arthur on a foggy morning two days later when the goalkeeper was about to leave the flat for the airport. Him and his team were flying to Germany for the first round of the Champions League’s semifinal, and though Merlin would have loved to join him, they had agreed with Merlin’s doctor that it would be wiser for him not to go on a plane so shortly after his accident. 

Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur before he placed a gentle kiss on his lips and looked deep into his eyes.

“Show them that you’re the world’s best goalkeeper”, Merlin added before he adjusted Arthur’s dark blue scarf carefully.

And shortly after, Arthur left their flat, carrying his black suitcase with him as well as Merlin’s best wishes. Arthur hadn’t been gone for more than a few minutes when Morgana turned up, taking Merlin with her to her and Gwen’s house. It wouldn’t even have needed Arthur’s ask for them to offer to take Merlin in for as long as Arthur was gone, as Morgana and Gwen were nearly as worried about him as Arthur. So of course they were happy to have him over, and Merlin looked forward to spending some time with these two too.

After Morgana had dropped him off at her house she drove to her work while Merlin spent the day with Gwen, who had been able to take a day off. They mostly spent it on the sofa, sipping hot chocolate and talking about everything and nothing while one cooking show after another played on TV. Merlin went to bed early that evening, still needing more sleep than usual due to his medication, and when he fell asleep, he dreamed of Arthur’s smiles and picnics somewhere in the nature…

 

On the next evening, Gwen, Morgana and Merlin sat together in front of the TV screen, watching the first semifinal. It was a hard fight for Arthur’s team, 75000 German fans screaming for their opponent, and when the referee ended the match after 90 adrenalin filled minutes, everyone seemed to be satisfied with the 2:2 the video walls announced. 

Well, Merlin actually was sure that Arthur would beat himself up over the second goal he received, but just when this thought crossed his mind, Arthur himself appeared on screen, next to a lady holding a microphone.

The journalist congratulated Arthur on the match, him praising their opponent in return and talking about how everything could happen in the second semifinal in London next week. And then, she asked another question.

“Mister Pendragon, we were so worried when we heard about your fiancé’s accident, how is he doing?”

“Oh, thank you for asking, and Merlin is doing be-, wait. Sorry, did you say my _fiancé?_ ”, Arthur asked while a slight blush appeared on his cheeks.

The journalist blushed too, apologized quickly and corrected the _fiancé_ to a _boyfriend._

There while, Merlin’s eyes were fixed on the TV screen, him having heard not much after the journalist had suggested the idea of Arthur and him being engaged. Gwen and Morgana exchanged a look, one Merlin didn’t notice, and both of them smiled. 

 

Later in the evening, when Arthur just got into the hotel bed after a quick shower, he heard Lance’s voice from across the room.

“Have you ever thought about it?”

“I’m sorry? About what?”

“Getting married. To Merlin. I saw that interview of yours, and, well… you know.”

It was dark in their room but Arthur could imagine the smile on Lance’s face very well. And he knew that if they still would have turned the light on, Lance would be able to see him blushing again.

“Yes”, Arthur whispered, and then, he decided to tell Lance the whole story.

“I love him, more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I- I don’t, I can’t imagine myself falling in love with someone else ever again. And I want to spend my life with Merlin, so yes, of course I’ve thought about it. And that, when he was hit by this damn car…”, Arthur had to stop himself to take a deep breath, the memory of the accident still scaring him to the bone. 

“He’s okay”, Arthur suddenly heard Lance’s voice, closer than he would have expected him.

Lance had walked across the room, sitting down at the edge of Arthur’s bed and pressing a steady hand to his slightly trembling shoulder.

“You’re going to get married to the love of your life and Merlin and you are going to be an even sickeningly sweeter couple than you are now and everything is going to be okay”, 

Lance stated, and when Arthur heard his friend’s steady voice, he found himself believing him.

“Thank you.”

“Any time, Pendragon. And sleep well”, Lance said before he ruffled Arthur’s hair and went back to his own bed.

And before Arthur closed his eyes, he grabbed his phone from the night stand to text Merlin a quick _“I love you”_ that he’d see when he woke up on the next morning.

 

Six days later, Arthur was standing next to his teammates in a row in his club’s home stadium; eyes fixed on the cheering crowd. That was it, if they’d just manage to win this game, to shoot one more goal than the Germans, they’d be playing the Champions League final. Arthur smiled at the thought, and his smile got even bigger when he remembered something else.

Arthur thought of the previous day, how he had met with Morgana for dinner while Merlin had a long day at uni, and after some wonderful Italian food, Morgana had dragged him along to her favourite jewelry shop. And there, he had picked out a ring to propose to Merlin – a simple band of silver, decorated with two little diamonds, close to each other. On the inside, he asked the shop owner for an engraving of words, words he had thought about for so long, and when he told them, Morgana smiled a heartfelt smile. Later, they had thought about restaurants, Morgana had already picked out some of her favourites…

“Hey there, dreamer, think you could maybe focus on our game? You know, the Champions League? Football?!”, Lance’s voice suddenly reached Arthur’s ears and he looked into his friend’s face, the smile not quite reaching his nervous eyes.

Arthur took a deep breath and thought of nothing but football for the next two hours. The game was even more heated than the first semifinal, both teams fighting with everything they had, and after 70 minutes, there was still a 0:0. Which would mean that Arthur’s team would make it to the final, because they had made their two goals in the foreign stadium instead of their own, and their opposing team seemed to be very aware of it. Arthur’s defense was barely able to draw a breath, sometimes five opposing players at the same time running towards them, and oh, it wasn’t by surprise that they had made it this far into the Champions League.

 

In the 76th minute, one of the German offense players managed to get past all of the defense players, aimed at the goal, Arthur jumped – and he caught the ball, gripping it as hard in his hands as he could while he crashed to the ground. And the sudden impact caused a sharp pain to shoot through Arthur’s shoulder, but it didn’t matter, because the video walls still announced a 0:0 and Arthur’s teammates were cheering towards him for the parade. 

Arthur got up, and on went the game – Arthur’s teammates seemed to be encouraged by their goalkeeper’s brilliant achievement, and not even five minutes later, Lance managed to score. Across the field, Arthur jumped into the air, and though their opposing team tried everything, it was too much – they would have needed two goals in less than 15 minutes, and this would have been a true football miracle. One that didn’t happen this day, and Arthur couldn’t have been happier. 

 

When the referee ended the game with his whistle, assuring Arthur and his teammates a place in the Champions League final, Merlin, Gwen and Morgana were jumping up and down in a three-person hug, screaming “final, _fiiinaaaal”_ again and again, everything around them a big blue celebration. 

The stadium’s video walls showed a scene of Arthur and his teammates in a larger group hug, and when the camera zoomed in to focus on Arthur’s face, Merlin carefully got out of Gwen’s and Morgana’s arms and walked downstairs through the celebrating people, towards the field. He quickly reached the first row, and when he did, he saw Arthur not that far away, applauding towards the fans in sync with some teammates.

“Arthur!”

How Arthur heard Merlin above all of the stadium’s noises, if he did so at all, Merlin didn’t know, but Arthur turned around right in that moment and saw his boyfriend brightly smiling at him. And so, Arthur sprinted towards him, climbed over a low barricade, Merlin leaned down – and suddenly, they were kissing. 

Arthur lost himself in the intoxicating combination of them just having reached the Champions League final and the feeling of Merlin’s lips on his own, and when they finally parted their lips, Arthur could see a camera not far away focused on them. And he smiled right into it before he pulled Merlin close again.

And when Morgana saw her brother kissing his love on the huge video screens, she smiled the smile of a sister that was as happy as she was proud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that you all had a wonderful start into the New Year <3
> 
> And please leave a nice comment if you liked this; you'll literally make my day! <3


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the Champions League final :D ⚽

“Arthur? You’re still awake, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. Of course I am.”

Merlin slowly turned to his side, facing Arthur in their hotel room that was illuminated by nothing but the half-moon shining through the open curtains. Arthur looked at him with wide eyes; his smile small but honest.

“I’m just nervous, nothing to worry about”, Arthur whispered while he softly ran a finger along Merlin’s jaw.

“You’re playing the Champions League final tomorrow. Everything but being nervous about that would be madness.”

Arthur chuckled while he inched closer to Merlin, wrapping his arms around him and granting Merlin the opportunity to bury his face between Arthur’s shoulder and neck.

“You’re going to be great.”

“Merlin, do you think that we’re gonna win?”

“Yes”, Merlin answered without even a second of hesitation, “Your team is one of the best in the world at the moment, there’s no doubt about that. The whole offensive is a force to be dealt with, and no goalkeeper out there could be as good as you are right now.”

 

Arthur had made a sound that Merlin couldn’t make sense of so he stopped talking, blinking at his boyfriend in curiosity.

“I, Merlin there is this thing… It’s nothing but rumours so far, but there are whispers that, well, that Barcelona would want me. For the new season. And I, you know I’m happy here, but coach is going to retire after tomorrow’s match, Lance said he may go looking for new challenges, and, well, it’s a dream club, isn’t it?”

“So, you’re thinking about saying yes, if they make an official offer?”

“I honestly don’t know. Playing in Spain, what that would mean for us…”

“Hey”, Merlin interrupted Arthur, “You’re worried for our relationship if you’d be playing in Spain?”

Arthur’s head moved in the hint of a nod while he cast his eyes away.

“Don’t be”, Merlin simply stated, “I love you. Nothing’s going to change that.”

The smile was back on Arthur’s lips and Merlin wished he could make it stay there forever.

“I’ll love you if you win that final tomorrow”, Merlin whispered while he placed a kiss to Arthur’s forehead.

“I’ll love you in case you would lose against Real, which you won’t, but still”, a kiss to Arthur’s nose.

“I’ll love you if you continue playing in England”, a kiss to his right cheek, “and I’ll love you if you decide to try it in Barcelona”, a kiss to his left cheek.

“It’s not about _where_ you’re playing, not even _how_ , it’s about _us_. You. Who loves me. Me. Who loves you. It really is that simple, you know?”, Merlin said with a smile and a soft kiss to Arthur’s lips.

“Thank you”, Arthur answered before he closed his eyes, burying his face in Merlin’s hair. Shortly after, he fell asleep, dreaming of how it might feel if they would win the final. Merlin was awake a little bit longer and watched Arthur’s sleeping face, how relaxed his features seemed, and before he closed his eyes himself, he placed one more kiss in Arthur’s hair.

 

Rome’s Olympic stadium was an ocean of lights in the following evening; thousands of flashlights illuminating this year’s Champions League final. Merlin, Gwen and Morgana were sitting together once again, next to Dr. Gaius, the man who had treated Merlin in the hospital – Arthur had remembered that he was a fan and invited him along, ignoring all protests with a charming smile and a meaningful arm that he put around Merlin’s shoulder. And finally, the doctor had said yes, hardly being able to hide his excitement at the perspective of joining them to see the final.

The trophy was brought into the stadium shortly before the teams started walking in; a cup of silver filled with the dreams of everyone who looked at it that evening. Arthur, who had his determination written into each of his steps, was wearing a golden shirt while his team mates walked in dressed in a deep blue; their opponents’ tricots were snow white. Merlin couldn’t have said why he paid so much attention to this little detail right then, to the colours that everyone was dressed in, but he did – how they stood in contrast to the green, green grass, how Arthur’s golden shirt complimented his hair…

_Ce sont les meilleures équipes_  
_Es sind die allerbesten Mannschaften_  
_The main event_

When the Champions League anthem started playing, all the players lined up on the field and Merlin felt Morgana’s arm around his shoulders. He looked at her, how her bright eyes were fixed on no one but her brother, and Merlin smiled.

_Die Meister_  
_Die Besten_  
_Les grandes équipes_  
_The champions_

Arthur was taking deep breathes while he listened to the anthem, trying to fight that slight feeling of panic that was there inside his chest. Focus. All he needed to do was focus. This was the Champions League final, something he had been working for ever since he was a little boy, barely able to walk but never seen without a ball or something he could use as one. 

Morgana had actually been the first one with the idea for him to be a goalkeeper – well, she had ordered Arthur to stand between two trees near their house and try to prevent her from scoring with the ball they had gotten from their grandma. To Morgana’s frustration, Arthur had turned out to be quite talented and cached more of her shots than she had anticipated, but after a short amount of frowning, Morgana had an idea. She smiled a smile that her clients learned to fear twenty years later, and when they went home from the playground on the next day, she took Arthur’s hand in hers and dragged him towards the field of the local football club. From then on, Morgana went to each of his little league games, taking her bike on the not so rare occasions that their father didn’t have time to come. 

_Une grande réunion_  
_Eine grosse sportliche Veranstaltung_  
_The main event_

While he stood there on the field, Arthur saw Morgana in front of his inner eye, glasses and a ponytail, a self-painted paper with Arthur’s name in her hands – and now she was there too, seeing him play the biggest match of his career. Arthur promised to give his best today, not only for himself and his team but also for Morgana and Merlin, for all the people he loved.

Arthur wouldn’t have been very surprised to know that Morgana was thinking of his very early football days too while she stood there, one arm around the shoulders of her love and the other one around Arthur’s. Being the proud sister she had always been.

 

Merlin had thought that he couldn’t get more thrilled for that match but when the referee called Lance and the other captain, an offense player named Mordred, to him to decide which team would start at which half of the field, he felt his breath catch in his throat. And when the game actually started, Merlin gave Morgana’s shoulder a tight squeeze and sent a short prayer towards a higher power he wasn’t sure he believed in. But it couldn’t hurt, could it?

The first twenty minutes felt like both teams were holding back somehow, the calm before the storm. And then, in the 21st minute, Lance fired a distance shot towards their opponent’s goal. The goalkeeper was able to catch it but it was as if that single shot had been what it needed to break the dam and the match quickly developed into one whose class and suspense deserved to be called a Champions League final. None of the teams was able to score in the first half but oh, it wasn’t as if they weren’t trying.  
When the break started Arthur quickly followed his team mates into the cabin, sinking down on the bench with a sigh while his shoulders felt as if they were on fire thanks to all the shots he had to parade.

There while, Merlin shared a coke with Gwen; Morgana and Dr. Gaius discussed some of the game’s actions and like everyone else in the stadium as well as in front of the TV screens all over the world, they couldn’t wait for the second half to start. 

Arthur felt as if he had barely sat down and heard his coach’s speech when it already was time to get back to the field and when he walked towards his goal, he knew what was on stake. Just a little bit more than 45 minutes and they could have it. They could be the Champions League winners. They would be.

 

It happened in the 58th minute. Arthur’s team had thrown everything they got towards their opponent’s goal, leaving him nearly alone in their half, and then Lance once again shot. The goalkeeper paraded the shot but didn’t catch it, Arthur actually lost sight of it from across the field, but suddenly, he heard thousands of people dressed in blue shouting, saw how some of his teammates fell into each other’s arms, and he knew that they had it. They were leading.

At the same time, Morgana was jumping up and down in front of her seat, screaming on top of her lungs. Thanks to their great seats she had been able to see very well what happened, how Real’s goalkeeper sent the ball back into the penalty area, how most of the defense players were focused on preventing Lance from shooting again – and how Elyan took his opportunity to send the ball into the opposite corner. While she was still jumping in ecstasy, she cast her eyes away from the celebrating offense, towards the other goal. There, Arthur had raised his fist towards the darkening sky that was already decorated by one or two stars, and Morgana could see the grin on her brother’s face. When she changed her object of attention again, she caught Merlin wiping a tear from his face, and she knew that they had to win this. She couldn’t and also didn’t want to imagine the heartbreak it would cause to lose the final now.

In the 81st minute, the huge video walls still showed a 1:0, and if he would have looked closely, Arthur would have been able to see a hint of desperation in the faces of the other team’s players. But he didn’t, cause he was too busy by making sure that it stayed there – a look of frustration because no matter what they tried, they weren’t able to get past Arthur and his defense. 

Mordred, the famous and feared offense player, started another attempt with the ball, shooting past two defense players when he already was close to Arthur’s goal – Arthur threw himself to the ground, caught the ball with the fingertips of his right hand, and he was just about to be relieved about this. Then, he felt the impact of something heavy on these fingers, and for a second, the world turned white and then black around the edges. 

Merlin watched in disbelief as Mordred tried to get the ball back from Arthur after he had already secured it, stepped down hard on Arthur’s hand, fell down – and started to demand that Arthur had fouled him and he deserved a penalty. Five of Arthur’s teammates were already surrounding the referee, accompanied by Mordred and three of his. There while, one of the defense players helped Arthur back to his feet and when asked if he needed the team’s doctor, he shook his head. Shortly after, the referee showed Mordred a yellow card and though Arthur’s team got the ball, it wasn’t long before Mordred and his fellow offense was attacking again.

The next time Mordred got close to the goal, in the 87th minute, he flashed Arthur a toothy grin, one that somehow seemed to make the still present pain in Arthur’s fingers worse, and he wasn’t the only one to see it. So maybe this was the reason, or at least part of it, why Lance, who had joined the defense in the game’s last minutes, went into the fight against Mordred with a lot of force, causing him to fall – and the referee decided on a free kick. The position was good, a distance that Mordred had often used to score, and Arthur knew it. When he looked up to the video wall he saw that they had already passed the 90th minute, this could very well be the game’s last real action – or it could open the door for 30 minutes of extra time for Mordred and his colleagues. 

 

Mordred placed the ball on the ground, took a deep breath and two steps back, and shot. The ball flew over the wall, aiming right at the goal’s left top corner, it was nearly there. And then, Arthur caught it. He went towards the grass with the ball held between his fingertips, holding onto it as if his life depended on it while paying no attention to the pain. Mordred threw his arms up in frustration while Merlin once again found himself in Morgana’s arms, and Arthur slowly got up again, pressing the ball to his chest. 

When he looked up it was as if the whole stadium was a sea of royal blue and with a smile on his lips, Arthur carefully placed the ball on the ground. And hammered it into the distance, towards the thousands of fans. 

Merlin saw how Arthur fired the ball he had caught so brilliantly just before far away. And then he heard it. The referee blew his whistle. Ended the game. And that was it. While Arthur went to his knees down at the field Merlin couldn’t hold back his tears, didn’t want to. Morgana and Gwen were sharing an adrenaline filled kiss while Gaius waved his blue flag and all of them would later say that there hadn’t been many times in their lifes when they felt happier than in that moment.

 

The following hours passed in a blur for Arthur. He remembered how Lance had been the first one to reach his goal to hug him, how both of them were crying when they realized what they had just achieved, their coach had said nothing but a _Thank you_ that held so much more before he pulled Arthur close, there had been special T-shirts announcing their win, some celebrating on the field. 

Then, they walked up through the spectators, there were hands to shake, medals to receive, and finally, Lance was handed the trophy. He smiled before he raised it towards the sky with a scream and Arthur felt as if his whole world would be exploding into joy and silver glitter. That was, until Lance gave Arthur the trophy, he felt the heaviness of it in his hands, the cool metal against his bruised fingers, and suddenly, the world seemed to go very quiet. Arthur granted himself a second to truly take in this moment, to realize that he was standing here with the Champions League cup in his hands, and then he raised his arms, causing the crowd to go wild once again. Their whole team was jumping while one player after the other got to hold the trophy, there was a bunch of interviews, a quick press conference, and finally, they were in their bus. 

Arthur just sat there next to Lance, smiling goofily, when someone from the back of their bus started to sing. 

_I've paid my dues_  
_Time after time_  
_I've done my sentence_  
_But committed no crime_  
_And bad mistakes_  
_I've made a few_  
_I've had my share of sand_  
_Kicked in my face_  
_But I've come through_

_And we mean to go on and on and on and on_

_We are the champions, my friends_  
_And we'll keep on fighting till the end_  
_We are the champions_  
_We are the champions_  
_No time for losers_  
_'Cause we are the champions of the World_

By now, all of them had joined in, singing with all they got, and Arthur had never loved a song more.

 

Their bus stopped in front of the club that would host their victory party and when they walked in, everyone was delighted to see that their loved ones were already waiting for them. Arthur’s eyes just followed Lance and his new girlfriend towards the dance floor when suddenly, he found himself embraced by a very enthusiastic Gwen, followed by Morgana. Gwen was talking a lot, congratulating Arthur on his match and sharing her happiness, while Morgana said nothing. She just kissed her brother’s cheek and looked deep into his eyes, and Arthur had to swallow against the tears that once again threatened to escape his eyes. They did when Merlin stepped in front of him, whispered “You were incredible” and then placed a kiss to every finger of Arthur’s right hand. 

A few kisses, drinks and dances later, Arthur found himself next to Lance at the bar. They were looking towards the dance floor while waiting for their drinks, witnessing how Merlin danced with Morgana not far away.

"Oh my, this is perfect. I can't imagine how this day could have been any better", Lance stated when Elyan started a dancing performance with the trophy in his arms, causing everyone around him to laugh in delight.

"I actually can", Arthur said and left Lance behind, confusion visibly on his face.

 

“Sorry dear sister, I just need to borrow Merlin for a moment!”, Arthur shouted through the music and Morgana nodded with a smile while Arthur took Merlin’s hand and led him away from the dance floor.

They walked through the crowd towards a staircase at the back of the club, leading towards the roof. A sign at the heavy metal door declared that you weren’t allowed up there but it was not as if Arthur would have ever given much about signs like this and so they found themselves standing side by side on the roof; Rome an ocean of lights all around them. Arthur turned around so he was facing Merlin, took both of his hands and opened his mouth to say the most important thing in his life.

 

"Marry me."

"Wh- What did you just say?"

Arthur went to one knee in front of Merlin, their hands still holding each other’s.

"Merlin, I'm... I love you. More than anything, always, and when, when I think of the future, well, it doesn't matter which club I'm playing for, or where I... _You_. That's what matters to me, that you're with me. Us, being together. Since the day we met you made my life so much better, and I love you, and though I know that I don't deserve you I also know that somehow you love me back, and that's the best thing that could have ever happened to me, and you... You've got the most beautiful eyes in the world, and I feel like you're saving my life everyday a little bit, and I love you so so much."

While he had been talking, Arthur's eyes had been fixed on their joined hands. Now, he finally looked up, saw Merlin's features in the low lights, the tears on his cheeks. Merlin's lower lip was shaking and for a moment, it seemed like he wanted to say something. But he didn't, and so Arthur continued to talk, voice low and trembling, eyes on Merlin's.

"Merlin Emrys, I'm asking you to become my husband. So...”, Arthur paused to swallow, “Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?"

Merlin looked at Arthur, his eyes huge, a bright smile on his face. He nodded, lightly at first, then with more and more enthusiasm, until he finally got to his knees as well, right in front of Arthur.

Arthur cupped Merlin's jaw with his hand, brushed the tears off his cheeks while they kept getting lost in each other’s eyes. After a few moments, Merlin leaned forward to place a kiss on Arthur's lips, both of them smiling into it.

 

When they finally pulled away, just a few inches so their foreheads rested against each other’s, Arthur was laughing nervously.

"So is that a Yes?"

"Yes, of course, Arthur, yes, I will marry you, of course I will!"

"I love you."

“And I love you too. Forever.”

Merlin threw his arms around Arthur’s neck and they kept holding each other tightly until Arthur started to chuckle and Merlin pulled away to shot him a questioning look.

"Morgana's going to kill me”, Arthur finally said, his voice filled with amusement and something else.

"What?", Merlin couldn’t follow him.

"She helped me planning how to propose to you, fancy with music and flowers and everything, and we got the ring together, and I was going to ask you while we were in..."

"Wait, just a second. You got a ring?"

"Yes, of course I do. You'll get it as soon as we get back, okay?"

Merlin was smiling. And so was Arthur, when he placed the ring on Merlin’s finger hours later.

 

"Wow. It's beautiful. Just like my fiancé", Merlin whispered while he observed the ring.

It was the first time one of them had said the word, and the sound of it made both of them smile even brighter.

Arthur thought of the words that were engraved into the ring: _My heart will always be yours._ And oh, how very true these were. Because he couldn’t imagine himself ever loving anyone else as much as he loved Merlin, right in that moment – somewhere in Rome, with messy hair and bright eyes, wearing Arthur’s Champions League shirt, his ring and a smile that held the promise of the future. 

A promise of forever, side by side. 

Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna send a hug to every single person who ever left kudos or comments on this whole series - I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, and I'm glad you sticked with me through all of it. Thank you! ❤️
> 
> Oh, and if you could take the time to comment one last time you'd make me a very happy writer... ❤️


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